More than 5,000 people were trapped at the Idomeni camp on Greece’s northern border with Macedonia Saturday after four Balkan countries announced a daily cap on migrant arrivals.
The buildup began in earnest last week after Macedonia began refusing entry to Afghans and imposed stricter document controls on Syrians and Iraqis, slowing the passage of migrants and refugees to a trickle.
And the situation looked set to worsen significantly after Slovenia and Croatia, both EU members, and Serbia and Macedonia said they would restrict the number of daily arrivals to 580.
The tighter controls have left thousands – including many children – stranded in Greece, as the bloc’s worst migration crisis since World War II shows no sign of abating.